Garage door



y 1936- I F. o. GOODMAN 2,041,410

GARAGE DOOR Filed April 26, 1955 1M g Wm Wm jjzdezz/ zi' firm/0% 0 Gboomm Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to garage doors and has for its principal object to provide an improved, simple and effective door, easy and inexpensive to build and easy to operate.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved hardware for garage doors which can be readily adapted for doors and door openings of difierent sizes.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical section through a garage door constructed according to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing one of the hardware elements of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view showing a lower corner of a garage door equipped with my invention,-as viewed from the inner side;

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken from the outside and on a smaller scale;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail View, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail View, taken on the line 65 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, the garage door comprises two horizontal sections l and H which close the opening defined by side posts l2 and lintel IS. The upper section II is hinged at its upper edge to the lintel l3 or other suitable part of the structure, by means of hinges I l. The sections [0 and I l are hinged together about their meeting edges by means of hinges l5, which enable the sections l0 and II to swing outwardly in the manner indicated in dash-anddot lines in Fig. 1. As will readily be understood from the position of the door shown in dashancl-dot lines in Fig. 1, in opening the door, the upper section I6 is swung about its hinges I4 outwardly and upwardly and the lower edge of the section H is raised from the ground level into a position near the lintel l3 of the door opening. At each side of the section II, near the corners thereof, is attached a rope or cable It which passes upwardly over a wheel I1 mounted on the inside of the garage at an elevated position. The upper extremity of the cable i6 is also secured to the garage structure at a point in spaced relation to the wheel H; for

example, it may be secured to a screw I 8.

Between the wheel l1 and the screw IS, the cable N passes below a wheel Hi, from the axis of which is suspended a weight 20. The weights 20, one at each side of the door, are correlated with the weight of the door so as to provide a substantial counterpoise therefor, a counterpoise which will hold the door substantially in the position shown in dash-and-dot lines in Fig. 1 when the door sections are moved or allowed to 5 move into that position. It will be understood that the weights 20 are located as far as possible so as to leave the door opening clear. This may ordinarily be effected by mounting the wheel I! substantially in alignment with the 10 door post, and the screw l8 may be located quite close to the side of the garage.

Upon each side post I2 I mount a strip of angle iron 2i which serves as a stop for the door sections l0 and I l in their closed positions. The angle iron also serves as a guide for the hardware element, at the bottom of the door, which will now be described. The hardware element designated .as a whole by the reference numeral 22, is shown in perspective in Fig. 2. It comprises a strip of metal 23 adapted to be mounted at the lower corners of the door section II, as shown in Fig. 3. The strip 23 is sunk in the vertical edge of this section so as to be flush with the vertical side of the section II. It may be 25 secured in position, for example, by means of screws 24.

The lower corner of the horizontal member 25 of the door section II is cut out or recessed, as indicated at 26, for the reception of a roller 21 which is freely rotatable upon a rivet 28 whereby it is mounted on the strip 23. As best seen in Figs. 1 and 5, the roller 21 is adapted to bear against the-outer face of the projecting flange of the angle iron 2|. The outer end of the rivet 28 passes through a link 29 and this link is adapted for free rotation or pivotal movement with respect to the rivet 28 and with respect to the roller 21. The link 29 is normally located in substan tially horizontal position and projects inwardly past the projecting flange of the angle iron 2|. At its inner end, that is, inner with respect to the garage, it carries a rivet or pivot 30 which is parallel to the rivet 28. The rivet 30 serves as a pivot for a roller 3| which is adapted to bear against the inner side of the projecting flange of the angle iron 2!. Contact of the rollers 21 and 3! with the opposite sides of this flange cause the link 29 to remain in substantially horizontal po sition, irrespective of the elevation of the lower edge of the section II, as is suggested in Figs. 1 and 5.

One of the important features of the hardware element 22 is that it may be applied to either side of the door. Thus, with reference to Fig. 2, it

will be understood that by merely swinging the link 29 through an angle of 180 degrees from the position shown in that figure, the fitting is adapted to application to a left-hand corner of the door instead of the right-hand corner, which is the position in which it is shown in this figure.

The door may be locked in any suitable way. Since the upper edge of the upper section In is anchored to the lintel and the lower edge of the lower section II is held against outward movement, any locking means which holds any part of either section between these two points, against outward movement, will serve to lock the door. Thus, I may use a locking element of known type at substantially the location of the hinges I5. Such locking element may comprise a handle 32 which may be actuated to project bars 33 on either side. Such bars may suitably engage the rear side of the projecting flange of the angle irons 2 I.

On the inside of the door and near-the lower edge thereof I may provide an adjustable strip 34 which can be moved vertically so as to make exact contact with the floor. This strip may terminate short of the hardware elements 22 on either side of the door and may be provided with longitudinal slots 35. Through these slots extend bolts 36 which are permanently mounted in the bar or rail 25 of the door section II. The bolts 36 are provided with thumb screws 31 and it will be readily understood that by merely loosening the thumb screws 31 and allowing the strip 34 to rest upon the ground when the door is closed, and then tightening the thumb nuts 31, a closer fitting door is provided.

On the outside of the bar or rail 25 I prefer to mount a handle or handles 38 whereby the door may be actuated. To open the door the lock 32 is opened to withdraw the bars 33 from behind the flange of the angle irons 2|. The central part of the door is then pulled outwardly to a slight extent and then the lower section II is raised with the aid of the handles 38. The upward movement is facilitated by the weights 20 which exert an upward pull upon the ropes or cables I6 at each side of the door. To close the door the handles 38 are grasped and the door sections are pulled down into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. Thereupon the handle 32 is actuated to hold the door in closed position.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the specific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A door comprising sections hinged together and hinged by one section to a structure defining a door opening, an angle iron mounted on said door defining structure having a projecting flange adapted to serve as a stop for said door sections, a roller on another section engaging one side of said angle iron flange, a roller engaging the other side of said angle iron flange, a pivot for last said roller, and a link pivotally supporting said pivot on last said section.

2. A door structure adapted to close a doorway opening defined by side posts and a lintel, comprising angle irons secured to the sides of said posts within the opening, horizontal door sections hinged together, the uppermost section being hinged to the lintel, said sections being adapted to abut against flanges of said angle irons when the door is closed, rollers mounted on the lowermost section adapted to engage the outer faces of said flanges of said angle irons, inwardly extending links pivotally mounted on the lowermost section, and rollers carried by said links engaging the inner faces of said angle irons.

3. A hardware element for garage doors, comprising a strip adapted to be secured to a door section, a roller, a pivot mounting said roller on said strip, a link pivotally mounted on said strip beyond the roller from said strip, and a roller mounted on said link opposite the first said roller and in spaced relation thereto.

4. A hardware element for garage doors, comprising a strip adapted to be secured to a door section, a pivot rigidly mounted on said strip, a roller on said pivot and a link pivotally mounted on said pivot remote from the strip, and a roller on said link opposite and in spaced relation to the first said roller.

5. A garage door comprising two horizontal sections hinged together, hinges mounting the upper section along its upper edge, rollers at the lower corners of the lower section within the vertical edges of said sections, pivoted arms extending inwardly from the axes of said rollers at positions inwardly of said rollers, and rollers carried by said arms opposite and in spaced relation to the first said rollers.

6. In combination, side posts and a lintel defining a door opening, and a door structure closing said opening comprising two horizontal sections hinged together, hinges mounting the upper section along its upper edge, rollers at the lower corners of the lower section within the vertical edges of said sections, angle irons secured to the sides of said posts within the opening presenting flanges against which said door sections abut when the door is closed, and upon which said flanges said rollers are adapted to roll, pivoted arms extending inwardly of said rollers past said flanges of the angle irons, and rollers carried by said arms adapted to engage the rear faces of said flanges.

FRANK O. GOODMAN. 

